MH-227 Neotropic - White RabbitsAfter a string of successful releases for Ninja Tune's Ntone imprint, Neotropic makes her Mush debut with her finest work to date: White Rabbits. Utilizing collaborative live performances from a number of talented guest musicians on a bed of sparse programming, Neotropic has crafted a release that is a continuation of her migration toward warm, minimal, acoustically grounded compositions. Her blend of environmental audio and rhythms document many moods and transitions. Piano lines and strings drift above fragile drum loops, an unassuming guitar strum slowly develops into a moving body of instruments, and sporadic vocals muse on the difficulty of finding and maintaining love.

One of the original cabal of electronic musicians to grace England's Ninja Tune label, Neotropic braintrust Riz Maslen was never as bombastic as Ninja's mostly boys-club roster; her music was introspective and ambitiously adventurous, but no less provocative. While many electronic musicians have simply disappeared, Maslen returns to up the ante here, incorporating live musicians with her dense computer mixes, their personality-filled performances streaming through an atmospheric tapestry of exotic themes and disturbing effects. "New Cross" recalls guitarist Bill Frisell; "Joe Luke" is pure ambient horror-show; "If We Were Trees" samples mad children laughing as Maslen grumbles, "You're doing my head in." Experimental yet melodically grounded, White Rabbits is frazzled and creaky - quirky music that sounds at one moment like a building on the verge of collapse and at another like the most beautiful sounds of the spheres. - Orlando Weekly